10 April 2012

IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE

Totem Recollection

Tian Taiquan Photographic Exhibition

Opening Reception : 21 April 2012 (Saturday), 3 - 6 pm, artist will be present

Exhibition Duration : 21 April – 22 June 2012

Exhibition Venue : Art Experience Gallery

Venue Address : Room 2009, 20/F, Cable TV Tower, 9 Hoi Shing Road, Tsuen Wan, NT, Hong Kong
Opening Hours : Mon - Fri, 9:30 am - 6:30 pm, by appointment on Sat, Sun and public holidays




Art Experience Gallery proudly presents “Totem Recollection”, the debut Tian Taiquan Photographic Exhibition in Hong Kong, from 21 April through 22 June 2012.

Chongqing born artist, Tian Taiquan has created series of photographic works out of his fragmented and vague childhood memory during Cultural Revolution. The artist, born in the most peculiar period in the modern history of China, revisited Chongqing Red Guard cemetery four decades after and which gave him enormous creative power. Tian wittily reconstructed the historical context with the premises.

“Monument and cemetery record a particular period of history, and whose existence is to remind modern people to retrospect the past. In the meantime, Tian Taiquan’s photography reconstructs the multiple appearances of the past in front of us in a mysterious way.”

- Feng Yuan

This exhibition will showcase three of the “Cultural Revolution” series, namely “Lost” in 2006, and “Sacrifice” and “Totem Recollection” in 2007. Tian Taiquan created the illusory images of Chongqing Red Guard cemetery where the delicate and pale female figures wearing green regimentals were lying or wandering around like spirits of dead. On the other hand, they were gradually swamped and buried in the sea of Chairman Mao badges. They represented mixture of death and temptation.

In the meanwhile, Tian Taiquan visited families of the victims in the cultural wars and produced a documentary interview along with the “Cultural Revolution” series. They portrayed their first hand experiences forty years ago. Art Experience Gallery will feature the 30-minute documentary during the exhibition. It is a valuable opportunity for Hong Kong people, especially the young generation, to know more about one of the most prominent periods of modern China from another humane perspective, which is no longer such a taboo for Chinese nowadays.
        
Tian Taiquan claims that his work is like a blade, which let the forgetful and numbing heart to be awakened from the instant pain, which is the responsibility of an artist. Therefore, Tian is greatly attentive to social issues and hence, develops the Trilogy “Past, Present & Future”. The artist aims to respond and raise awareness in the society with his artworks. The Hong Kong exhibition “Totem Recollection” highlights the most renowned works in the “Past” series of the Trilogy.

For more information, please contact Zero Chan via zero@artexperiencegallery.com or call 2110-9928.